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Foley steps down as SA deputy premier

Liza Kappelle

Embattled Kevin Foley has stepped down as South Australian deputy premier and treasurer, apologising for perhaps being too much of a bully boy.

Like his colleagues Industrial Relations Minister Paul Holloway and Police Minister Michael Wright, Mr Foley will formally tell Labor caucus on Monday that he's handing over two of his key portfolios.

He's been under pressure to quit since he and Premier Mike Rann faced calls for generational change at the state ALP conference in November while angry unions protested outside against the tough state budget.

But a defiant Mr Foley denies he was pressured into stepping down as the powerful right faction seeks generational change.

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"I have not been pushed, I have not felt pressured, I don't feel that I have been knifed, I haven't made any threats, I haven't demanded anything in exchange," he told reporters on Sunday in the heart of his Port Adelaide electorate.

Mr Foley, one of Australia's longest-serving treasurers, was seen as a smart and capable man in the job.

He was also prone to slips of the tongue, such as when he told a radio station he was not the sharpest tool in the kit.

"I know that for a lot of South Australians, they thought that I was too arrogant, that I was too much of a bully boy, too much outspoken, too much direct, too strong in my approach. I apologise if that's upset people," he said.

"But I guess it is me, and to do the job that I have been doing over the past nine years you can't be a flower, you can't wilt at the first hint of pressure, these are tough jobs."

Mr Foley wants to stay a minister and says any portfolio he gets will be up to Premier Mike Rann.

He said now was a good time to go so that the new treasurer, expected to be Employment Minister Jack Snelling, had time to prepare for the next state budget and get up to speed before the next state election in 2014.

He said he was proud to be deputy premier for the past nine years and happy to be handing it over to his friend, Attorney-General John Rau.

"I think John Rau is a truly remarkable man ... he can handle pressure and make wise decisions," Mr Foley said.

Mr Foley said he made the announcement at the lighthouse in Port Adelaide because his adviser did not want him to get emotional in the enclosed room at the state administrative centre.

"Big boys don't cry in Port Adelaide," Mr Foley said.

As he climbed into his car, a group of leather clad bikers called out: "Bye, bye, we love you."